Falcon 9 Rocket Ready for Classified NRO Satellite Delivery, First Stage Landing

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is aiming for a Sunday liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast on the company’s first classified satellite delivery for the secretive National Reconnaissance Office in charge of operating all U.S. spy satellites.

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First Iridium-NEXT Satellites enter Operation after Stellar Performance, Next Launch Re-Aligned for June

Satellite communications provider Iridium placed eight of its new satellites launched in January into active service after a complex ballet of orbital moves to position the new additions in the 66-satellite constellation while spiraling retiring satellites down from their operational orbits.

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China’s Tianzhou-1 Cargo Vehicle Completes First In-Space Refueling Test

China successfully completed its first refueling exercise in orbit between the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft and the Tiangong-2 space laboratory, marking the completion of the last crucial demonstration before the country can begin the deployment of its planned modular Space Station currently expected to start in 2018.

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Operations Resume at Europe’s Guiana Space Center after Month-Long Stand Still

The Guiana Space Center returned to operations on Monday after protests and a general strike brought French Guiana to a halt for over a month, interrupting work a the European-run spaceport and as a result delaying three missions out of the equatorial launch base.

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Cygnus Cargo Ship Captured by Space Station for Three-Month Stay & Critical Science Delivery

Booked for a three month stay, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus OA-7 cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, hauling nearly 3,500 Kilograms of supplies to the orbiting laboratory to support dozens of scientific experiments, ISS maintenance, and an unprecedented CubeSat constellation for the exploration of a largely unknown region of Earth’s atmosphere.

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ISS Welcomes Soyuz MS-04 & Two Crew Members after Speedy Rendezvous

Russia’s Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft, carrying a reduced crew of two, chased down the International Space Station for a speedy rendezvous on Thursday, bringing its veteran commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA Astronaut Jack Fischer to their orbital destination just six hours after blasting off from Kazakhstan.

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Video: Soyuz MS-04 Docks with ISS after Expedited Rendezvous

Russia’s Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft, carrying a reduced crew of two, chased down the International Space Station for a speedy rendezvous on Thursday, bringing its veteran commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA Astronaut Jack Fischer to their orbital destination just six hours after blasting off from Kazakhstan.

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China’s ‘Heavenly Vessel’ Sails into Orbit atop Long March 7 Rocket on Space Logistics Demonstration

China’s aspirations of establishing a permanent outpost in orbit around Earth reached new heights on Thursday with the successful launch of the country’s first Tianzhou cargo spacecraft – embarking on a five-month shakedown mission to demonstrate China can keep its future modular space station stocked up on supplies and fuel.

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Videos: Soyuz FG Launches from Baikonur with Soyuz MS-04 & Two ISS Crew Members

A Russian Soyuz FG rocket, currently the longest-serving members of the Soyuz rocket fleet, lifted off from Site 1/5 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 20, 2017 to lift into orbit the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft with veteran commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA’s Jack Fischer – headed to the International Space Station on the fast lane.

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S.S. John Glenn Cargo Spacecraft races into Orbit atop Atlas V Rocket

A critical science-enabling cargo delivery to the International Space Station was successfully sent on its way on Tuesday when a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rumbled away from Florida’s Cape Canaveral to place the Cygnus cargo spacecraft into orbit.

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